Now in its 18th year, the fun run is held in memory of former rugby league star Darrel Chapman and later went on to establish Southern Cross University's Human Movement Science and Sport Management program.

The event is run by Southern Cross University in conjunction with Lismore organisation Our Kids, which has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for paediatric equipment.

This year the run aims to raise $17,000 for a Children's Resuscitation Machine at the Lismore Base Hospital's Special Care Nursery.

Our Kids founder and paediatrician Dr Chris Ingall says the intensive care bed for newborns is an important additional to the children's ward.

"It's a piece of machinery for the nursery which will keep infants very warm and we'll be able to observe them very keenly when we're giving them resuscitation just after birth," he says.

"With resuscitation equipment like this, they have more of a chance of staying local."

With either 3km or 6km events, organisers are hoping its 18th year will be bigger and better than every other.